"Smart Meters" Yes Or No??

[grandpajoe]

Our supplier ED F say they are coming next week the fit a new meter as ours is "OLD" and we need a new one. They will be fitting a Smart one (as a matter of course!) and I contacted them and told them NO. "Not in my house, on my watch you ain't!" I was contacted by someone in a foreign call centre who told me that I had no choice. I do have a choice I argued and it turns out the meters only need a flick of a switch inside them to change from one function to another. So we are to get an unsmart one...But am i right?? Am I right to be concerned? Should I just let technology overtake me?? At 77 should I not just say "Oh grollocks to it !" And let "progress" continue?? Any thought on giving the supplier facility to turn my power off remotely and know the "Far end of a fart "???

[davebro]

had one for years - no problems at all

[RATTER15]

Why not? no problem with ours.

[Old_Geezer]

Personally I'd refuse such a meter as long as possible. It is an infringement of rights to force something controlled by the supplier on my property. It benefits the customer nothing and merely let's the supplier control things from their end. Not to mention that data transfer will be a target for those of malicious intent. It will also risk incompatibility between suppliers, electronics that can fail, it's just wrong on every front. And who is naive enough to believe a claimed smart on/off switch fixes all concerns ? Good luck telling them where to stick it.

[Vagus]

We’ve had our smart meter for approx seven years, we weren’t told we had to have one, we chose to have it installed and have not had any problems at all.
As for being ‘remotely turned off’, as I understand it’s against the law for energy companies to do that.
Go for it, keep up with technology, you’re only 77 ;)

[MissTerious2]

We've hadone for years with no problems. We're both in our mid 70s.

[Ken4155]

Considering that most energy suppliers are almost forcing their customers on to smart meters, you'd think that they woukd want to keep you on these meters for life. However, my friend told me recently that his had gone kaput. He obviously phoned BG who told him they do not replace broken smart meters?
He is 78 years old, with a bad back and poor eyesight. In order to read his meter to check how much credit he has left, he has to lie on the floor with a magnifying glass. Despite telling BG this, they still insist they do not replace broken smart meters. I find it a tad weird, tbh?

[bhg481]

The suppliers are leant on to provide smart meters; once they've done that there's no mileage in it for them to maintain then.

[drmorgans]

British Gas don't seem to have the best reputation for "customer care".

[youngmafbog]

I am in the OG camp and as a programmer it is not a problem with me and Tech.

My personal feeling is that it is the next step to tiered pricing, something which penalises the poor and working. I also suspect once in place a Government of the future will announce a tax on EV charging at home. The meter will know and Excise Duty will be added.

[-SharonA-]

Go for it. You will get accurate bills as the reading goes straight to them.
I have one & can say there's been no problems whatsoever.

[gingejbee]

^I don't have one, and have accurate billing too.

[Hopkirk]

I wish ours worked properly. It sends the electric reading every month, but I have to brave the spiders guarding the gas meter.

[davebro]

//My personal feeling is that it is the next step to tiered pricing, something which penalises the poor and working. I also suspect once in place a Government of the future will announce a tax on EV charging at home.//

I think they could only do that if EVERY consumer had a working smart meter. It's evident that some don't work & there are some areas of the country where they can't work.

[MissTerious2]

We have no gas. Perhaps that's why we dont have sny trouble!

[youngmafbog]

//I think they could only do that if EVERY consumer had a working smart meter//

Possibly but the idea is to get as many rolled out now. This means it would be easy to mop up the rest by law and force them. At that point the utility companies would also be forced by law.

I am pretty sure I will be proved to be correct in the coming years.

[lankeela]

Chicken Licken! Just go for it, don't be an old fart. Never had a problem with mine and I have been on prepay for years so will now start to benefit from a reduced payment.

[lankeela]

Did you manage to get rid of the fleas?

[Prudie]

A Customer's rights:
To refuse to have a Smart Meter unless your existing meter is faulty or has reached the end of its certified life.


Read more at: https://www.smartme.co.uk/customer-rights.html © SmartMe.co.uk

[Maydup]

We have had one for years without any problems. And no more estimated bills. Hoorah.

If the energy supplier wanted to cut you off or control your supply they could do that regardless of the meter type. But why would they?

[10ClarionSt]

I keep getting text messages from my supplier saying they're coming to fit a smart meter. I tried reporting them as spam at first, on 7736. It didn't work so now I just delete them. Before you ask, it's because I don't want one.